Adrian Mills’ selections for Saturday’s top-flight matches include wins for Nottingham Forest and Arsenal.
After a busy midweek of European fixtures, there are just five Premier League games taking place on Saturday.
There are some crucial matches though at both ends of the table, with title rivals Arsenal and Liverpool both in action.
There’s also a huge game at the bottom, as Wolves play host to Ipswich, which the evening kick-off sees two of the top six collide, as Nottingham Forest play host to Aston Villa.
Saturday Premier League best bets
Nottingham Forest to win
8/5
Arsenal to win to nil
3/4
Liverpool v Fulham: Cody Gakpo to score
6/4
Newcastle v Leicester: Over 3.5 Total Goals
21/20
Nuno has Europe in his sights
After coming through a particularly tough run of fixtures and still being in the top six, Nuno Espirito Santos will be feeling upbeat about Nottingham Forest’s European hopes.
Defeats to Newcastle and Arsenal threatened to derail their excellent start to the season, but Forest have bounced back with two wins in their last three matches.
That included a 3-2 success at Manchester United last weekend and now they prepare to host an Aston Villa side (5:30 kick-off) who have lost their last three Premier League away games.
Unai Emery’s men picked up an impressive 3-2 Champions League victory against RB Leipzig on Tuesday, which will have taken a lot out of them.
Forest, who are unbeaten in their last two home games against Villa, are able to take advantage of their opponent’s heavy schedule.
Gunners back to their best
Arsenal are now unbeaten in their last seven games in all competitions, with Everton the latest visitors to the Emirates Stadium (3pm kick-off).
The Gunners have scored 20 goals during that run and the timing of their return to form has just about kept them in touch with leaders Liverpool.
Everton are 15 points behind their opponents, but have moved themselves five points clear of the drop zone following a 4-0 victory over Wolves two weeks ago.
A lack of goals continues to be an issue for Sean Dyche’s side, with the Toffees failing to score in any of their last three away games.
Couple that with clean sheets for Arsenal in their last three home matches and it looks like being a long afternoon for the Merseysiders.
Fulham offer test for leaders Liverpool
A midweek Champions League win in Girona means it’s not just one defeat in 22 games in all competitions for Liverpool.
With Chelsea not playing until Sunday, the Reds could extend their lead at the top with a victory over Fulham (3pm kick-off), but it is unlikely to be straight forward.
The Cottagers have drawn with both Arsenal and Tottenham in the last month and were unlucky to lose 3-2 at Manchester City in October.
The hosts may need to chop and change their attacking trio in order to break down a stubborn Fulham backline, but they do have the options to do that.
Mohamed Salah is the obvious selection to find the net, but Cody Gakpo offers a bit for value for Saturday’s Anfield clash.
The Dutchman has scored twice in the last four games and found the net when the two teams met in the League Cup semi-final first-leg last season.
Goals on the agenda at St James’
It’s 12th versus 15th at St James’ Park on Saturday (3pm kick-off) and recent form suggests there will be plenty of goals for the packed-house on Tyneside.
Newcastle have found the net six times in their last three league games, while Eddie Howe’s men have kept just three clean sheets in the league this term.
Leicester have pulled themselves away from the bottom three thanks to four points from two games since Ruud van Nistelrooy took charge.
It’s fair to assume that the Foxes are going to try and throw numbers forward, when possible, with the Dutchman seeing his new team bag five goals in their last two matches.
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